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Six months ago, a group of Chinese investors purchased the David Stott Building and the former Detroit Free Press building.

Now, the broker who sold the buildings at auction to Shanghai-based DDI Group and one of the main tenants in the Stott building are concerned that the investors won’t spend what's needed to maintain and lease them out, let alone renovate them.

DDI Group purchased the 210,000-square-foot David Stott Building on Griswold Street for $9.4 million and the 302,000-square-foot Free Press building on West Lafayette for $4.2 million in September.

Ryan Snoek, a real estate consultant who coordinated the sale on behalf of the seller, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Luke Investments LLC, said malfunctioning elevators recently hampered a busy Saturday night in February at the Skybar, which takes up a part of the first floor and the entire 33rd floor of the Stott building.

Guests were either forced to wait extended periods of time on the ground floor when only one of the two elevators was working, or trek down dozens of flights of stairs to get to the first floor when both elevators were out of order.

There isn't a contract with a licensed elevator repair service for the Stott building, Snoek said.

Snoek said DDI offered him the brokerage contract for the building but he couldn't accept it because of other obligations. He said he referred them to the top brokers at Farmington Hills-based Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC, the Detroit office of Jones Lang LaSalle and Southfield-based NAI Farbman.

There are no brokers leasing out space at the buildings, Snoek said.

“They had these grand plans to dump millions into the (Stott) building. I'm starting to become concerned that may not be the case, that they just bought the buildings and will just hold on to it,” he said.

“That's my fear. I hope it's not true, but I've had some indicators it might be. It's already been six months and they haven't put a dollar into this building. They haven't put a dollar into the Free Press building.”

DDI Group, in a statement from a representative for the group, Ken Creighton, said the elevator issues were a result of deferred maintenance.

“During this initial ownership period, we have been dealing with a number of deferred maintenance issues that we inherited from the former ownership including the elevators," the statement said. "Most of these items are very serious in nature, and in cost implications where we have had a number of professional consulting firms giving us advice and counsel on how to approach and solve the issues both in the near term and long term.

“We remain committed to our investment in the David Stott Building and resolving the issues with the assistance of our professional advisors.”

Snoek said the Stott building never had elevator issues until October, one month after DDI Group took over ownership.

Paul Elder, who identified himself as the building manager for the David Stott, declined comment.

Since DDI Group took over ownership, Detroit Yoga, which had 2,500 square feet at the Stott building, left its space, citing landlord concerns, Snoek said.

Snoek also said there have been basic maintenance issues such as a lack of snow removal at the former Free Press building.

Staff in the Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering & Environmental Department and the Department of Public Works said Tuesday afternoon that no complaints have been filed concerning the former Free Press building.

The Stott building is 15 percent leased. The former Free Press building is vacant.